Shark Bytes

Mantis was never cool. Every episode revolved around something happening to the suit and leaving the main character nigh useless for the rest of the episode. I agree that could be a useful plot device, but not every episode.

Mantis was a great tv show! Wow! My brother and I loved this as kids. We watched this every friday night after Family Matters and Step by Step. Great concept the acting, plot and story. I like how he was toying around with the body armor and tossed himself in the air. I have to say that it might have gotten cancelled either because FOX usually does that or it was going to cost FOX a lot of money to make. I also hate that the mantis armor was the only way he was able to walk. Never jumped. It was very short lived.

Mantis was a great tv show! Wow! My brother and I loved this as kids. We watched this every friday night after Family Matters and Step by Step. Great concept the acting, plot and story. I like how he was toying around with the body armor and tossed himself in the air. I have to say that it might have gotten cancelled either because FOX usually does that or it was going to cost FOX a lot of money to make. I also hate that the mantis armor was the only way he was able to walk. Never jumped. It was very short lived.

The 2 hour PILOT for M.A.N.T.I.S. was GREAT! It actually had enough to make you think, was well written and filled with GREAT actors. To me it does not matter what race the people were, or are. It was a fantastic show! I was very excited to learn it was then going to be a series! Sadly, much of the cast was replaced, and the remaining characters were re-written. The series then thought for you, and there was no room left to really get into the show. It was still a good show to watch, but was FAR below the standards set in the original pilot movie.

I guess someone thought the original was to cerebral and was not presentable to the mass public, so they 'dumbed it down' and changed the cast to a more 'representive' grouping. VERY BAD MOVE GUYS! Just another example of how it seems studio execs. often DESTROY a good thing.

the first episode, removing the 2 african students and replacing them really slapped me in the face, it was awesome to see african-americans develop and utilize this new technological advance in the pilot movie, but then to flip it and replacing them with the white scientist gave ME the impression that "africans can't do this without a white scientist." Its almost like how Lucious Fox is with Batman, unless you read the comics you had no idea he existed until Batman Begins. Thats what the african students represented, that blacks were smart enough and capable of these amazing discoveries and inventions

Good show, never jumped. The previous poster is nuts--boycott every show that isn't all black? Don't watch much t.v. then, do you?

For me, MANTIS jumped the shark right after the pilot movie. When the series began to air and I saw they had replaced the two black African students who helped the paralyzed scientist with that boring Australian white guy. That ruined it for me and I think probably disappointed a lot of white people who enjoyed the unusual and interesting premise of an all-black cast; also this probably insulted many black viewers who felt disgusted with the injection of a token white into the show.

My vote is for "Never Jumped," but I have a feeling if I saw it today I might disagree. But to a 10 year old, Friday nights were great with this and "X-Files" back-to-back!

The 2 hour movie that introduced the character was really strong (though they jettisoned a lot of the plot elements and brought in Roger Rees). It was darker, more urban, and had a feel like the Tim Burton Batman.

Still, even if the series didn't stick to the tone of the movie, it was still a solid, made-for-TV superhero show. And how rare are those?

Although I really enjoyed the show, in the beginning with Betty (61) and Rhue (48) playing Vicki's (34) daughters, the only time you would really think about the age disparity was in a two-shot -- the worse being when Betty was in a hospital bed with her turkey neck hanging to the side and Vicki standing over her. Vint's two children were so underwritten that they were no loss and Allan Kayser, thankfully, brought some sex appeal onto the show.

The first regular-season episode. The pilot was a bold mix of humor, action, and inventive special effects, with a nearly all-black cast. When it debuted on the regular schedule, they cut back on the special effects, er, lightened up the cast, and made the main character less interesting, which is a shame considering what a good actor Carl Lumbly is. It started making some strides back to its original quality, but by that time, it was too late. It started getting funnier again, but it was too late.

At the first appearance of the 'men in black'. These mystery villains were from another dimension and ruined the series. These things had no clear motivations or purpose. They belonged to this organization that used a spider as a symbol and put bugs in people's ears. What the hell happened? This series used to make sense.

I was so sad to see this show canceled. M.A.N.T.I.S. was the first black superhero we had since the Brown Hornet!

Didn't jump. Had a very interesting premise...although, if memory serves, it did come close on occasion. As for the other poster who asked why he didn't wear the suit all the time...did you happen to see how BIG the suit was? That, and the suit used a lot of energy, so there's that, too...plain and simple...he didn't wear it all the time because he couldn't.

I don't get it..he's paralyzed, but he puts on the M.A.N.T.I.S. suit and he can walk (and fight crime!)? Why not just wear the pants all the time?